Vietnamese Communist Head Le Duan

July 11, 1986|United Press International

BANGKOK, Thailand -- Vietnamese Communist Party leader Le Duan, who helped guide the communists to victory over the U.S.-backed government of South Vietnam, died Thursday after a long illness, official Radio Hanoi reported.

The radio broadcast, monitored in Bangkok, Thailand, said Mr. Duan, 79, died at 3:30 a.m. Thursday. He had been reported in poor health for more than three years with kidney and lung ailments.

Diplomatic observers said Mr. Duan`s death could accelerate a power struggle within the Communist Party that already had begun in anticipation of the retirement of Vietnam`s aging top-level leaders. The outcome, however, is not likely to change Vietnam`s pro-Soviet foreign policy, they said.

One of the founders of the Communist Party in Vietnam, Mr. Duan took over its leadership after the death of Ho Chi Minh in 1969. He guided the party for 17 years -- through the war against the United States, the conquest of the south, the invasion of Cambodia in 1978 and the 1979 war with China. After Ho`s death, Mr. Duan shared governmental power with President Truong Chinh, 79, Prime Minister Pham Van Dong, 80, and Le Duc Tho, the No. 2 man in the party secretariat.

Radio Hanoi waited more than 14 hours to announce Mr. Duan`s death.

It said the leadership was ``deeply grieved to announce that Comrade Le Duan, general secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam Central Committee, passed away at 3:30 hours on July 10, 1986, after a period of serious illness at the age of 79.``

The radio said Mr. Duan had received treatment by ``excellent physicians with modern medical equipment,`` but his advanced age and the seriousness of his illness made it impossible to save him. No cause of death was given.

Radio Hanoi made no mention of a replacement for Mr. Duan, but diplomats in Bangkok said his death would speed up a power struggle already believed under way.